Welcome to The Lunch Belle, a food website/blog that views the New York City + Los Angeles dining scenes through the lens - and belly - of a highly opinionated, critical, adorably quirky, and culinary-obsessed thirty-something year old.

After clicking through this slideshow and happening upon Chef David Burke's answer to his ultimate guilty pleasure, "A Kit Kat bar. I was never allowed to eat sweets as a child, so I find Kit Kats to be the ultimate guilty pleasure," I wondered: Are parents, who restrict certain foods in their households, unknowingly setting their children up for weight issues/future struggles?

Speaking from personal experience, I'm going to have to say "yes." I grew up in a household where sugary cereals, soda pop, packaged snacks, chips, etc. were not allowed. So, whenever I went over to a friend's house whose parents did allow these products in their pantries, I would get so excited and anxious...that I would binge. As a young child! Fast forward 10-years: In going away to college, I was left entirely up to my own devices and demises for, among many other things, my diet. And just like so many other freshman students, I gained about 15-20 pounds. But not over the course of one year. Mine occurred over the course of that first semester. Why? Because I could literally eat whatever the hell I wanted. For the first time in my life! I didn't have Mommy or Daddy eyeing my every meal like a hawk. They weren't planning and shopping for my breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners. I was! And you can bet your ass that my grocery cart consisted of chips, candy, ice cream, cheese, and Little Debbie cakes. Man, I thought I was so suave and rebellious...until I went home for that first Thanksgiving and saw the horrified looks on everyone's faces. I had blown up like a beach ball.

So now, I turn the question over to you: Do you think that parents, who restrict certain foods in their households, unknowingly set their children up for weight issues/future struggles?

I have to say I'm so thankful that my parents didn't restrict any food in our house. (Other than cheetos because my mother didn't want our orange fingerprints on the walls. We were only allowed to eat those in the car.) My parents always encouraged us to indulge within reason. I will raise my kids the same way!